Methods and systems for non-intrusive system data pipe

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems are provided for accessing data in a networked system. In one embodiment, a method includes: receiving a request for information from a first system; evaluating a display system to determine a communication request to be generated to obtain the information; and generating a request to a second system based on the communication request.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to methods and systems foraccessing data of a system.

BACKGROUND

An aircraft includes various hierarchically related sub-systems such as,propulsion systems, flight management systems, etc., that communicateover one or more networks. Legacy aircraft contain a defined set ofsystems and needed wiring to support the systems. In order to addfunctionality to a legacy aircraft, the system can be modified to addthe functionality, or a new system can be added or provided in place ofthe existing system to add the functionality. For example, to add a newperformance application, the flight management system (FMS) softwaremust be modified. To add the display of the newly computed value on adisplayed map, both the FMS software and display software must bemodified. In another example, the new performance application could beadded to a new system that would require an update to the wiring. Eitheroption can be costly and or time consuming to add the new performanceapplication.

Hence, there is a need for improved methods and for integrating newapplications in a legacy aircraft. In addition, there is a need forimproved methods and systems for accessing data in any system. Otherdesirable features and characteristics will become apparent from thesubsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technicalfield and background.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Methods and systems are provided for accessing data in a networkedsystem. In one embodiment, a method includes: receiving a request forinformation from a first system; evaluating a display system todetermine a communication request to be generated to obtain theinformation; and generating a request to a second system based on thecommunication request.

Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the methodand system will become apparent from the subsequent detailed descriptionand the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings and the preceding background.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction withthe following figures, wherein like numerals denote like elements, andwherein:

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating an aircraft having adata access system in accordance with exemplary embodiments;

FIGS. 2-4 are illustrations of a data access system of an aircraft inaccordance with exemplary embodiments;

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram illustrating a data access moduleof the data access system in accordance with exemplary embodiments; and

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a data access method that may beperformed by the data access module in accordance with exemplaryembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and isnot intended to limit the disclosure or the application and uses of thedisclosure. As used herein, the word “exemplary” means “serving as anexample, instance, or illustration.” Thus, any embodiment describedherein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other embodiments. All of the embodiments describedherein are exemplary embodiments provided to enable persons skilled inthe art to make or use the invention and not to limit the scope of theinvention which is defined by the claims. Furthermore, there is nointention to be bound by any expressed or implied theory presented inthe preceding technical field, background, brief summary, or thefollowing detailed description.

As used herein, the term module refers to any hardware, software,firmware, electronic control component, processing logic, and/orprocessor device, individually or in any combination, including withoutlimitation: application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), anelectronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and memorythat executes one or more software or firmware programs, a combinationallogic circuit, and/or other suitable components that provide thedescribed functionality.

Referring now to FIG. 1, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosureare directed to a data access system 10 that may be implemented, forexample, on an aircraft 12. As can be appreciated, the data accesssystem 10 described herein can be implemented for networked systems (notshown) other than an aircraft 12. For exemplary purposes, the disclosurewill be discussed in the context of the data access system 10 and theaircraft 12. Although the figures shown herein depict an example withcertain arrangements of elements, additional intervening elements,devices, features, or components may be present in actual embodiments.It should also be understood that FIG. 1 is merely illustrative and maynot be drawn to scale.

As shown in FIG. 1, the aircraft 12 generally includes one or moreaircraft systems 14 a-14 n that communicate with a display system 16 todisplay information about the aircraft 12 to a pilot or other user. Theaircraft systems 14 a-14 n include conventional systems of an aircraftsuch as, but not limited to, a flight management system, a cabinmanagement system, control systems, etc. The communication between thesystems 14 a-14 n and the display system 16 may be via a communicationbus 18 or other direct or indirect communication means.

The display system 16 includes a computing device 20, a display device22, and one or more input devices 24. The display device 22 may belocated in a cockpit (not shown) of the aircraft 12 for viewing by, forexample, a pilot of the aircraft 12. In various embodiments, the displaydevice 22 is an interactive display device (e.g., a touch screen, orother interactive display device) that accepts user input from a userthrough the one or more of the user input devices 24.

The computing device 20 includes at least a processor 26, and one ormore data storage devices 28. The processor 26 can be any custom made orcommercially available processor, a central processing unit (CPU), anauxiliary processor among several processors associated with thecomputing device 20, a semiconductor based microprocessor (in the formof a microchip or chip set), a macroprocessor, or generally any devicefor executing instructions. The data storage device 28 may be one or acombination of storage elements that store data, and/or instructionsthat can be performed by the processor 26. The instructions may includeone or more separate programs, each of which comprises an orderedlisting of executable instructions for implementing logical functions.

In various embodiments, the data storage device 28 stores a data accessmodule 30. In various embodiments, the data access module 30 includesone or more instructions that may be executed by the processor 26 of thecomputing device 20. In general, the instructions of the data accessmodule 30 cause the display system 16 to communicate with the one ormore systems 14 a-14 n of the aircraft 12 to obtain information. Theinstructions of the data access module 30 further cause the data accessmodule 30 to receive the information and to provide the information toother new systems 32 of the aircraft 12. For example, the data accessmodule 30 provides the information to a new system 32 or new applicationof a new system 32 or existing system 14 a-14 n requesting theinformation. The data access module 30 provides the information in anon-intrusive manner such that the hardware and/or the software of theaircraft systems 14 a-14 n and the display system 16 do not have to bemodified.

For example, FIGS. 2-4 illustrate an exemplary display system 16 that isimplemented as a multi-control display unit (MCDU). The MCDU displaysvarious pages 34-38 of information on the display device 22. Theinformation displayed on the pages 34-38 is populated from informationreceived from one or more of the systems 14 a-14 n. The pages 34-38 aredisplayed based on information requested by a user or pilot. Theinformation is requested based on a user's selection of one or more ofthe input devices 24. For example, when the “ECON Cruise” page 34 isbeing displayed as shown in FIG. 2, a user can select the “Radio” buttoninput device 24 a which results in the “PERF INDEX” page 36 to bedisplayed as shown in FIG. 3. When the “PERF INDEX” page 36 is displayedas shown in FIG. 3, and a user selects the “NEXT” button input device 24b, the “RADIO” page 38 is displayed as shown in FIG. 4.

The data access module 30 of FIG. 1 makes use of the establishedrelationship between the user selections and the data that is displayedon the pages as a result of the selection to access data from thesystems 14 a-14 n. For example, the data access module 30 simulatescertain user selections to cause one or more requests to be generated toone or more of the systems 14 a-14 n for the information. The dataaccess module 30 simulates the user selections based on the pageassociated with the information that is requested and a communicationprotocol associated with the system 14 a-14 n in which the informationis being requested from.

Referring now to FIG. 5 and with continued reference to FIG. 1, adataflow diagram illustrates the data access module 30 in more detail inaccordance with various embodiments. As can be appreciated, variousexemplary embodiments of the data access module 30, according to thepresent disclosure, may include any number of sub-modules. In variousexemplary embodiments, the sub-modules shown in FIG. 5 may be combinedand/or further partitioned to similarly access data from the systems 14a-14 n and provide the data to new systems or applications 32. Invarious exemplary embodiments, the data access module 30 includes a modecontrol module 40, a protocol determination module 42, a datacommunication module 44, and one or more datastores 46, 48.

The mode control module 40 determines an operating mode of the displaysystem 16 and generates a request 50 to change the current operatingmode based on the determined operating mode. In various embodiments, thevarious operating modes can include, but are not limited to a standardoperating mode and a non-display operating mode. For example, when inthe standard operating mode, the display system 16 displays informationas the information is received. In another example, when in thenon-display operating mode, the display system 16 maintains a currentdisplay of information and does not display any new information.

In various embodiments, the mode control module 40 determines theoperating mode based on received inputs. For example, the mode controlmodule 40 receives as input a start request 52. The start request 52 maybe generated by a new system or application 32 that plans to requestinformation. Based on the start request 52, the mode control module 40determines the operating mode to be the non-display mode and generatesthe mode change request 50 to change the current mode to the determinednon-display mode. The mode control module 40 then captures a snapshot 54of the current page block displayed by the display system 16 andcaptures the current active system 56. The mode control module 40 storesthe snapshot 54 and the active system 56 in a datastore 46 for futureuse.

In another example, the mode control module 40 receives as input userselection data 58. The user selection data 58 may be generated based ona user's interaction with one or more input devices 24 of the displaysystem 16. Based on the user selection data 58, the mode control module40 determines the operating mode to be a standard mode and if thecurrent mode is not already the standard mode, generates a mode changerequest 50 to change the current mode to the determined standard mode.The mode control module 40 then uses the stored snapshot 54 and theactive system 56 to generate device restore data 60 to restore the pageblock and active system of the display system 16.

The protocol determination module 42 receives as input informationrequest data 62. In various embodiments, the information request data 62can be a part of the start request 52 or be part of a separate request.The information request data 62 can be generated by the new applicationthat is requesting information. Based on the information request data62, the protocol determination module 42 determines what information isrequested. The protocol determination module 42 then determines whichpage 64 (from any number of displayable pages) is associated with theinformation that is requested. For example, an association of theinformation to a particular displayable page 64 may be stored as a tablein a datastore 48 and the page 64 may be looked up from the table basedon the information. The protocol determination module 42 then determinesa protocol 66 to cause the page and/or a data element of the page 68 tobe displayed. For example, the protocol 66 can correspond to asimulation of certain input selections (e.g., button presses, or otherselections) to cause the page 64 to be displayed. The protocoldetermination module 42 provides the protocol 66 and the page or dataelement 68 to the data communication module 44 for future use.

The data communication module 44 receives as input the protocol 66 andthe page or data element 68 to be requested. The data communicationmodule 44 generates system requests 70 to the one or more of the system14 a-14 n based on the received protocol 66 and the page or data element68. In response, the data communication module 44 receives information72 based on the request. Optionally, the data communication module 44verifies the received information 72 to ensure that the informationreceived corresponds to the information requested. The datacommunication module 44 communicates the received information 72 to thenew system or application 32 as requested information data 74 based onthe protocol established for the new system or application (e.g., whichmay be known or determined).

Referring now to FIG. 6, and with continued reference to FIGS. 1 through5, a flowchart illustrates a method 190 that can be performed by thedata access module 30 in accordance with the present disclosure. As canbe appreciated in light of the disclosure, the order of operation withinthe method is not limited to the sequential execution as illustrated inFIG. 6, but may be performed in one or more varying orders as applicableand in accordance with the present disclosure.

In various embodiments, the method 190 may be scheduled to run based onpredetermined events or may be scheduled to run at predetermined timeintervals. In one example, the method may begin at 200. It is determinedwhether a start request 52 is received at 210. If a start request 52 isnot received, the method 190 continues to monitor for a start request 52at 210.

If, however, a start request 52 is received at 210, the snapshot 54 istaken of a current page block and the active system 56 is determined at220. The mode of the display system 16 is modified to the non-displaymode where all received information or the requested information that isreceived is not displayed at 230. Thereafter, it is determined whatinformation is requested at 240. For example, a subsequent request isreceived or the first request containing the information request data 62is processed to determine the information that is requested at 240. Thepage or data element of the page 68 that is associated with theinformation that is requested is determined at 250. The protocol 66associated with the page and/or the particular data element of the page68 is determined at 260. Thereafter, the system request 70 for theinformation is generated based on the protocol 66 at 270.

Upon receipt of information from the system 14 a-14 n at 280, theinformation is verified at 290. If, the information is not the requestedinformation at 300, optionally an error notification message isgenerated at 330 and the mode of the display system 16 is modified tothe standard mode at 340. The snapshot captured at 220 is used torestore the display device 22 to the current page at 350. Thereafter,the method may end at 360.

If, however, the information is the information that was requested at300, then the information is communicated to the new system orapplication 32 at 310. If the non-display mode has not been ended at320, the method continues to determine the information requested at 240.If, however, the non-display mode has been ended, for example, based ona user's interaction with the display system 16, the mode of the displaysystem 16 is modified to a standard mode at 340. The snapshot 54captured at 220 is used to restore the display device 22 to the currentpage at 350. Thereafter, the method may end at 360.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrativelogical blocks, modules, and algorithm steps described in connectionwith the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronichardware, computer software, or combinations of both. Some of theembodiments and implementations are described above in terms offunctional and/or logical block components (or modules) and variousprocessing steps. However, it should be appreciated that such blockcomponents (or modules) may be realized by any number of hardware,software, and/or firmware components configured to perform the specifiedfunctions. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware andsoftware, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits,and steps have been described above generally in terms of theirfunctionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware orsoftware depends upon the particular application and design constraintsimposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement thedescribed functionality in varying ways for each particular application,but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing adeparture from the scope of the present invention. For example, anembodiment of a system or a component may employ various integratedcircuit components, e.g., memory elements, digital signal processingelements, logic elements, look-up tables, or the like, which may carryout a variety of functions under the control of one or moremicroprocessors or other control devices. In addition, those skilled inthe art will appreciate that embodiments described herein are merelyexemplary implementations

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits describedin connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implementedor performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signalprocessor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), afield programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device,discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or anycombination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with theembodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in asoftware module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two.A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory,EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, aCD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. Anexemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processorcan read information from, and write information to, the storage medium.In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor.The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC mayreside in a user terminal. In the alternative, the processor and thestorage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal

In this document, relational terms such as first and second, and thelike may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from anotherentity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actualsuch relationship or order between such entities or actions. Numericalordinals such as “first”, “second”, “third”, etc. simply denotedifferent singles of a plurality and do not imply any order or sequenceunless specifically defined by the claim language. The sequence of thetext in any of the claims does not imply that process steps must beperformed in a temporal or logical order according to such sequenceunless it is specifically defined by the language of the claim. Theprocess steps may be interchanged in any order without departing fromthe scope of the invention as long as such an interchange does notcontradict the claim language and is not logically nonsensical.

While at least one exemplary embodiment has been presented in theforegoing detailed description of the invention, it should beappreciated that a vast number of variations exist. It should also beappreciated that the exemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments areonly examples, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability,or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the foregoingdetailed description will provide those skilled in the art with aconvenient road map for implementing an exemplary embodiment of theinvention. It being understood that various changes may be made in thefunction and arrangement of elements described in an exemplaryembodiment without departing from the scope of the invention as setforth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of accessing data in a networked system,comprising: receiving a request for information from a first system;evaluating a display system to determine a communication request to begenerated to obtain the information; and generating a request to asecond system based on the communication request.
 2. The method of claim1, wherein the evaluating comprises evaluating display page informationto determine the communication request.
 3. The method of claim 1,further comprising determining a communication protocol based on theevaluating, and wherein the generating the request to the second systemis based on the protocol.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprisingreceiving information from the second system based on the request to thesecond system and providing the information to the first system.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, further comprising verifying the information from thesecond system.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising controllingan operating mode of the display system based on the request forinformation.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising controllingthe operating mode of the display system based on a user selection. 8.The method of claim 6, wherein the operating mode is at least one of astandard mode and a non-display mode.
 9. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising storing a snapshot of the display system based on the requestfor information.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising restoringthe display system based on the snapshot.
 11. A system for accessingdata from a network system, comprising: a first computer module thatreceives, by a processor, a request for information from a first system,and that evaluates, by a processor, a display system to determine acommunication request to be generated to obtain the information; and asecond computer module that generates, by a processor, a request to asecond system based on the communication request.
 12. The system ofclaim 11, wherein the first module evaluates display page information todetermine the communication request.
 13. The system of claim 11, whereinthe first module determines a communication protocol based on theevaluating, and wherein the second module generates the request to thesecond system based on the protocol.
 14. The system of claim 11, whereinthe second module receives information from the second system based onthe request to the second system and provides the information to thefirst system.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the second moduleverifies the information from the second system.
 16. The system of claim11, further comprising a third module that controls an operating mode ofthe display system based on the request for information.
 17. The systemof claim 16, wherein the third module controls the operating mode of thedisplay system based on a user selection.
 18. The system of claim 16,wherein the operating mode is at least one of a standard mode and anon-display mode.
 19. The system of claim 11, further comprising a thirdmodule that stores a snapshot of the display system based on the requestfor information.
 20. The system of claim 11, further comprising whereinthe third module restores the display system based on the snapshot.